Traffic challenges ahead

The flyover in the city has kept daily commuters hooked to the ideas of decongestion and smooth traffic for years now, with the authorities having put forth fresh assurances that the pending work will be completed by the end of the May this year. Meanwhile, traffic authorities have issued an advisory on the traffic movement from Barzulla to Hari Singh High Street and vice versa. Traffic Police City revealed that one-way traffic on the stretch of road from Hari Singh High Street towards Naaz Crossing will be allowed from Monday, March 11. The flyover (Rambagh-Jehangir Chowk) that missed a number of deadlines despite being funded by Asian Development Bank, in the eyes of the people has been a non-starter. The flyover was announced in late 2009, so this year it may complete its tenth year. Unfortunately when entire metro stretches for kilometers are completed within three to five years, it took a decade for the flyover to get completed. While the authorities have had their excuses on the delays and snail’s pace of the work done so far, this year the chaos in the city may return in its new avatar. Each year the challenges to manage and direct the traffic in the city multiply. For traffic authorities, it is not going to be cakewalk this year, particularly after the move of the Secretariat, reopening of the schools and improvement in the weather. All eyes, and hopes too, are on Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) that has offered a fresh assurance to get the flyover work completed by May. However, the commitment shown by the agency to its own word a number of time before, should make the traffic officials wary and prepared for the hard season ahead. At the same time, traffic authorities may review their traffic diversion plans and fine tune them to remove the glitches. Hopes are also pinned on two other projects that will bring a relief to the commuters. They are the road widening project from Rajbagh to Mehjoor Nagar via the bund, also funded by ADB, and the grade separator near Abdullah Bridge. On road widening project, covered under Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP), the pace of work is again slow and discomfiting. Similarly, the grade separator is taking a lot of time, forcing the commuters into two narrow stretches of road. If the works are not completed soon, this would become the main bottleneck and the site of frequent traffic jams in the city.

Traffic challenges ahead

The flyover in the city has kept daily commuters hooked to the ideas of decongestion and smooth traffic for years now, with the authorities having put forth fresh assurances that the pending work will be completed by the end of the May this year. Meanwhile, traffic authorities have issued an advisory on the traffic movement from Barzulla to Hari Singh High Street and vice versa. Traffic Police City revealed that one-way traffic on the stretch of road from Hari Singh High Street towards Naaz Crossing will be allowed from Monday, March 11. The flyover (Rambagh-Jehangir Chowk) that missed a number of deadlines despite being funded by Asian Development Bank, in the eyes of the people has been a non-starter. The flyover was announced in late 2009, so this year it may complete its tenth year. Unfortunately when entire metro stretches for kilometers are completed within three to five years, it took a decade for the flyover to get completed. While the authorities have had their excuses on the delays and snail’s pace of the work done so far, this year the chaos in the city may return in its new avatar. Each year the challenges to manage and direct the traffic in the city multiply. For traffic authorities, it is not going to be cakewalk this year, particularly after the move of the Secretariat, reopening of the schools and improvement in the weather. All eyes, and hopes too, are on Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) that has offered a fresh assurance to get the flyover work completed by May. However, the commitment shown by the agency to its own word a number of time before, should make the traffic officials wary and prepared for the hard season ahead. At the same time, traffic authorities may review their traffic diversion plans and fine tune them to remove the glitches. Hopes are also pinned on two other projects that will bring a relief to the commuters. They are the road widening project from Rajbagh to Mehjoor Nagar via the bund, also funded by ADB, and the grade separator near Abdullah Bridge. On road widening project, covered under Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP), the pace of work is again slow and discomfiting. Similarly, the grade separator is taking a lot of time, forcing the commuters into two narrow stretches of road. If the works are not completed soon, this would become the main bottleneck and the site of frequent traffic jams in the city.